Illusions
by CheeseKing
Summary: Naruto's thinking about getting over Sakura...and someone new comes into the scene.
1. Illusion 1

Disclaimer: I by no means own any of Naruto, for its the product of Anbu and AnimeOne... VV now im all depressed but eh oh well, on with the story...

Setting: This piece is not really placed in a particular space in the time line; just one of those random days where Naruto has finished training with Sasuke and Sakura in the woods. Naruto had just run off into the woods in a blaze of anger because he just wanted to get as far away as possible from that Sasuke.  
  
**_The Illusion_**  
  
"BAKA BAKA BAKA! Why is Sasuke ALWAYS in the DAMN spotlight? BAKA!" An angry Naruto was yelling at no one in particular. The birds that were chirping stopped because of the sudden outburst that cut the silence. He was sore that Sakura had stood up for Sasuke from the training session earlier when Sasuke and he got into a heated debate. Depressed at the thought that Sakura liking Sasuke, Naruto shook himself out of it and started to think about being the future Hokage.  
  
"When I'm the Fifth Hokage, Sakura-chan will have to acknowledge me, including the rest of the Konoha Village! Then, Sasuke will be nothing and I'll step on him like an ant!" Naruto said as he started to stomp indicating him stepping on Sasuke.  
  
As he was walking, he hadn't noticed the sun had begun to go down and the forest started to get darker and darker. Pretty soon, Naruto found himself lost in the woods, something not surprising to Naruto.  
  
"Heh heh heh." Naruto chuckled to himself at the thought of him as the Fifth Hokage and ordering Sasuke to many C rank missions, and Sasuke was a Jounin in his daydream. "Clean up the stables Sasuke! Watch over Shikamaru's kids! No Sasuke, you can't have a A rank mission yet!"

Naruto grinned childishly at his thoughts. So caught up in his day dreaming, he didn't notice the hole in the floor and fell in.  
  
"WHOAAAAA!!!!!!" Yelled Naruto as he fell down the hole. Any reasonable genin would of thought of something to stop falling, but this is Naruto. He fell for a good 40 seconds and landed with a "Ooomph" on his face.  
  
With a face full of mud and dirt, Naruto mumbled into the ground, "Damn it. No wonder Sakura-chan would never like me. I'm such a bakahead."  
  
Naruto pushed himself up and sat upright and brushed himself off. Then he slumped over and sighed. He closed his eyes and started to reminisce about the times with Sakura-chan, but eventually Sasuke's smirking face kept popping up and then he imagined Sasuke and Sakura running away together hand in hand from a fallen naruto, who was on his knees begging Sakura to stay. Then his head began to swim with harsh comments from Sakura.  
  
_"You're always such a screw up Naruto! Why can't you be more like Sasuke? He's smarter and stronger than you'll ever be..."  
"You're so annoying! I hate you Naruto!"  
"You're ALWAYS getting in the way Naruto!"  
"I'd NEVER date you Naruto! NOT EVER!"  
_  
Those were almost everday comments, and though he smiled them off when she said them, they still had a pang against his heart. Naruto held back the stinging tears he felt that were beginning to submerge. The many images of Sakura's smiling face began to fade away. They were replaced with flashes of Naruto reaching out but Sakura's back was always turned to him and she was walking away...and finally he was left on his knees and Sakura had walked away to the other side, right in to the arms of a awaiting Sasuke. She glanced back with a content smile, and Sasuke, who hardly ever smiled, had a very content smile as well. Naruto decided then that he should just forget about ever getting Sakura to like him, she was always after Sasuke anyways; he looked with a half open eyes and just stared at the ground with a depressed look. He didn't know when, but he had fallen asleep at the bottom of the pit with his back against the wall.  
  
Scrith Scrith  
  
He was awoken to the sounds of someone rustling above and opened his eyes slowly. It was nearly pitch black in the pit and the only light was coming from the night sky which could be seen clearly from the hole at the top. Naruto blinked his eyes until they were able to focus in the dark. Suddenly, a cloaked shadowy figure leaned over and peered into the hole; it's eyes gleamed in the dark. Naruto felt fear overtake him and his heart beat so fast it felt like it was going to pop out of his chest at any given moment. Finally pulling himself together, he opened his mouth and tried to sound all courageous by yelling at the figure.   
  
_"I hope that's going to scare him off and leave me alone. From the training earlier, I used up all of my Chakra and even now I'm pretty drained. I don't have anything to fight with."_  
  
"GET THE HELL AWAY OR I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS! I'M WARNING YOU! I'M ONE OF THE BEST NINJA'S OF THE KONOHA VILLAGE!"  
  
Naruto had barely breathed a sigh of relief when the shadowy figure returned. Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, Naruto looked up and the shadowy figure with the gleaming eyes returned.  
  
_"Shit! He might of brought back reinforcements. I'm in big trouble now! I've gotta try using the Kagebunshin no Jutsu or else I'm going to be in big trouble."_ Naruto summoned up whatever Chakra was left, along with the hand seal, and screamed out:   
  
"KAGEBUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"  
  
Poof  
  
What looked like a boneless Naruto skin appeared right next to him on the floor, similar to the one he tried to do at the academy for the graduation test.  
  
Facefault  
  
"Crap! I don't even have enough for one good clone! I'm screwed! DAMN!"  
  
What Naruto hadn't noticed was a vine was dangling next to his face and only realized it when it brushed against his cheek. Naruto stared at the vine, deciding whether to take it or just stay down there.  
  
_"If I stay down here, I'm at a worse disadvantage, so I'm going to go up there for a better fighting chance."_  
  
Naruto gingerly grabbed the vine, and then gave it a few good yanks before climbing the vine. As he neared the top of the vine, he jumped out in hopes to surprise the mass army up there, with his shurikens in his hand and ready for throwing. However, as soon as he got up there, he saw no one but the one cloaked figure who was standing there, and even the cloaked figure didn't look like he was going to battle. Naruto landed and put his shurikens away, except one which he had just in case something were to happen. He approached the figure slowly, inching closer and closer, but stopped stone cold when he heard him speak.  
  
"Uzimaki Naruto, I've had my eyes on you."  
  
Naruto eyes open wide at the mention of his name. Who was this stranger and how did he know Naruto's name?! Tune in next time folks =) I wanna know how I'm doing so a few reviews would tell me whether or not to go on...


	2. Illusion 2

Disclaimer: I DON'T own any of Naruto, its all AnimeOne and ANBU. Although if you'd like to donate proceeds to the "Poor Writers Guild" Please feel free to send me a check or money order made payable to the PWG... haha..JK on the last part... but yea..i don't own any of naruto...hope you all enjoy it..its a continuation of the first chapter... .   
  
CHAPTER 2 of THE ILLUSION  
  
Naruto held out his shuriken shakily and pointed it at the stranger.  
  
"Who...who are you and how.. how do you know my name?" He managed to stammer out.  
  
"Hehehe..." The figure's shoulder shook and he laughed quietly. Then with a sudden movement that alarmed Naruto into a stance ready to attack, the cloaked person revealed himself... or rather it was a herself. Long, silky, silvery flowing hair emerged from the hood as a rather spunky looking girl looked out at him with bright silver bluish eyes. The way the night light from the sky shined down on her, her hair seemed to be glowing a soft silver aura, making her even more angelic. Her features were so subtle, but from the dim lights you could tell her skin was a soft glow of warm color. Captivated by her very beauty and essence, he could not move, nor noticed that his shaking hands had let go of his weapon as it landed on the ground with a barely audible thud. His mouth wide agape, he finally snapped back to reality and spoke.  
  
"YOU'RE A GIRL?! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING GOING AROUND SCARING PEOPLE LIKE THAT?!" Naruto yelled out at her, only to be silenced by a grin that spread across her face. Even under the starlight, he could see that she was possibly older then him by one or two years. However old, she was still very pretty, and Naruto found himself holding in his breath. His face turning blue, he breathed in and exhaled loudly and sheepishly looked at her. An overwhelming feeling came over him as he felt suddenly subtle and quiet, and for odd reasons he didn't want to be loud or scream at her anymore.  
  
"I am Herotuku Kilana, but you can call me Kila for short. And as I said earlier, I've been watching you Naruto-kun."  
  
"Hmm..she said kun..so she must be older than me. Who is this weird lady and why is she in the middle of the dark woods right now?" Naruto's head swam with questions. As if she heard the questions, she simply said,  
  
"I admit... I was following you today because you happened to enter where I live."  
  
"You live here?" He asked with curiosity. "You don't belong to a village?" Then he thought quickly and put his hand ready to grab another shuriken, "You aren't a missing nin are you!?"  
  
"Haha, no Naruto, I'm NOT a missing nin. I've just lived here since a little girl because my parents were casualties when the Kyuubi attacked. And..." She trailed off as she saw the word "Kyuubi" had made him flinch. "Don't look so down Naruto, I know about your past too. Don't worry, I'm not here to rub it in. The cruel villagers have done enough damage to you already. Anyways, I've lived here since then, and I grew up on my own. But I have taken interest in you Naruto-kun."  
  
Naruto still had a look of pain as some of the memories began to flood his mind, but as quick as they began to flood, suddenly without him knowing, she had him in a tight hug.  
  
"Don't worry Naruto... I'm here now... you don't need to hurt anymore." Kila whispered softly into his ears. This hug, this embrace, it was something he was not familiar with, but whatever it was, he liked the feeling. He found his very own arms going up and hugging him. He could barely remember the last time he got hugged, and at the moment, he couldn't recall it. They stood in the clearing hugging for a few minutes and the woods around them were quiet, all except for the chirping of the crickets. Naruto hasn't felt this calm for such a long time, and just the embrace of someone who seemed so very empathetic of his feelings and hugging him this tight made him feel....Good. "So Naruto-kun, I take it you are lost?" Kila's question broke the silence. He jumped back and glared at her and retorted, "What the hell?! What makes you say that?! I'm going to be the Fifth Hokage, so I can never be lost!" He said with glamour and gave her a thumbs up, only to realize as he looked around that he WAS lost.  
  
He Face faults  
  
"Hahaha, here, let me show you the way." Before Naruto could open his mouth to say that he was a guy and that he needed no help from a old lady like her, she had grabbed his hand and started to lead him through the dark woods. Her hands were so warm and inviting, he didn't try to pull away and just let her lead him.  
  
"What is this feeling? Why does my heart beat so fast and powerful? I'm not beating anyone down, yet I feel good, like I won. What is it?"  
  
His head was riveted with question over question over question. Then, he realized a similar feeling that he had before, and that was whenever he though of Sakura-chan. Just seeing her image in his head made him feel kinda warm inside, not a feeling he's used to. He's always been the outcast; around every corner someone jeered at him, made cruel and harsh comments, looked at him with fear, and most of all avoided him at all costs because of the Nine Tails that resided inside of him behind the seal. However, something about Sakura had captivated him, and filled him with the warm feelings he never really got to experience growing up as a orphan. "Sakura..." Naruto thought to himself with a downcast look. Kila happened to glance back and saw the sad look but said nothing and continued to lead him through the woods back to The Hidden Leaf Village: Konoha.  
  
End of CHAPTER 2 of THE ILLUSION  
  
Well that's it for now, sorry for the short chapters!!...Please R&R for any additional ideas or just give me some helpful pointers please! 


	3. Illusion 3

Disclaimer: As of now..I still do NOT own any of Naruto! BLEHHH..but its ok... ANBU and Anime One does a very nice job of it anywho... but if I were a billionaire or something... thinks anyway...yea..i own nada... = cept my imagination! Read and enjoy... hopefully =)

A/N: Hehe...plz tell me what you guys think so far! =) and i'll be sure to try and update more! =) and i'm trying to get a hang of italisizing words for his thoughts and parenthesis for action for easier reading =) anywhoo...have fun =)

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**Chapter 3 of The Illusion  
**  
By the time Kila and Naruto had neared the edge of the woods and could see the walls of the village, the sun had started to come up. He really had gotten himself lost so deep into the forest it took them all night to finally reach Konoha. The sky was a brilliance of colors; shades of a hazy blue blended in with yellows and oranges intermingled to form such a beautiful sight. The dawn was so beautiful and the air was just exuberant. The sounds of the woods waking up; baby birds chirping as they wake up, the dying of the crickets, the animals scurrying around, was resonating behind them as they stepped out.  
  
"Wow Naruto-kun, everything's so beautiful." Kila gasped as she looked about in wonder. It wasn't everday that she saw such a sight, especially from the outside of the woods.  
  
"Yea...I guess." He replied back bluntly. He was never really one to take in the scenery like that, but something about her made him look and he actually kinda did notice the beauty that she spoke of. She let go of his hand and walked a bit ahead to get into the clearing to get a better view of the sky. He followed suit behind her, and just watched her in silence. He was awed, but at the same time he was very tired from walking all night. He found himself walking and bobbing his head as he fought the waves of sleep that were crashing against him.  
  
As they approached the gate, the guard at the entrance who was asleep still heard the rustling and instantly awoke and was ready for battle. Seeing and recognizing a very tired Naruto, he stepped to the side and let him in. However, when he saw Kila, he stopped her. Naruto's eyes were barely open; they were barely slits when he sluggishly stopped and turned around when he heard the commotion behind him.  
  
"Let me in! My parents used to live here before! LET ME IN!" Kila was screaming at the tops of her lungs.   
  
"Who are you? And who are your parents?" Asked the guard who was beginning to wake because of her yelling her lungs out.  
  
"Naruto! Tell this guy to let me in! NARUTOOOO!" she wailed so high that the closest birds flew away. The guard plugged his ear at the horrible sound and Naruto's eyes popped open at the extremities of her voice. From such a mature girl at first, she suddenly became someone immature, someone like him. His eyes are opened very widely and his heart was racing from the sudden outburst. _"Oh man! She's making such a huge scene! I'm going to be in big trouble."_ He thought and then told the guard that she was with him. The guard looked from one to the other back and forth and then had a smug look. He was one of the younger Jounins, and he looked at Naruto hand held up a pinky finger, indicating she was a girlfriend, or someone he was dating. Instantly of course, Naruto's anger flared up.  
  
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" He totally forgot about being quiet as his temper rose. Kila had already walked past the guard and was by Naruto's side. Before he could yell anymore at the Jounin, Kila had slipped her arm around Naruto's and started to drag him away. He was surprised and stopped yelling and looked at her, but then he looked back and just made a face at the guard as she turned a corner. _"GAH! He's such a idiot. Stupid good for nothing Jounin. Idiot."_ He thought with despite. He never did like people teasing him. As soon as they were a good distance away from the entrance, she let him go and they walked in silence. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and for an instance, the image of the ninja's hand with the lifted pinky crossed his mind. Naruto shook his head quickly as if to shake off the thought, and Kila looked at him and smiled again.  
  
"So Naruto-kun, do I get to stay with you or am I going to rent a inn for myself?" Her question broke the silence.  
  
"Uhh..well..." He was stumped and blushed a little at the thought of her in his room. He instantly kicked that idea out and thought about the inns. The inns these days were so very pricey, and she did help him find his way after all. He dug into his pockets and found that his wallet was gone, probably somewhere in his room. The way he figured, he was going to go home and get his wallet and rent her a room for the day. _"She's probably as tired as I am"_ He thought to himself.  
  
"Well, we'll go back to my place and then we'll get you a room." As soon as the sentence was finished, she had this look on her face that looked like she was slightly depressed. It was only for a split second, but he caught it. She saw him looking and quickly covered it with a smile. He just looked at her questioningly and just walked on.  
  
Soon enough, they were in Naruto's room. As soon as he unlocked the door, she pushed her way into the room.  
  
"Hey hey hey! This is my room! Don't go around pushing people and going into their houses first! THAT'S RUDE!" He said at her, but it seemed as if she didn't hear him or didn't care.  
  
His room was such a mess. Clothes, Ramen packaging, unopened Ramen, spoilt foods, clothes, utensils, and just about every kind of imaginable dust bunny lurked around in every corner. However messy it was, she had this look like she was seeing a wonder of the world. He walked in and was scratching the back of his head and embarrassingly said  
  
"yea... uhh..my room's a bit messy"  
  
"Haha, don't worry, you should see my room... your room is clean compared to mines, well... except that you have these lying everywhere." She picked up two of his boxers and held them out. By the look and smell, they haven't been washed for weeks. He turned very red and snatched them from her and threw it behind him into another pile of dirty clothes, who also have not been washed for a very long time. She giggled and just started poking her nose around.  
  
"HEY GET AWAY FROM THERE! DON'T TOUCH THAT! HEY HEY HEY!" The commotion could be heard outside, and it went on for about half an hour before it died down. Soon, she just laid down on his bed, and oddly enough fell asleep so fast as Naruto was stuffing the last of his boxers into the hamper. He turned around and saw her fast asleep. He noticed his money bag, but saw that she was sleeping so peacefully that he didn't want to wake her. Then thoughts started to fly into his mind. _"What if anyone comes to my door and knocks and sees her there?! What would they think?! Oh man! Or what if she wakes up and is all over me? Or what if Sakura-chan comes in and sees her? What would she think? I don't wanna be a perve like that Ero-Sennin!"_ Naruto began to panic and turn red, but in the end the exhaustion came in and he just decided to sleep on the other side of the room on the floor. (a few hours pass, its about noon)

((KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK))

"NARUTO! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW! IT'S NOON AND YOU SAID YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO TRAIN WITH ME AND SASUKE! DON'T MAKE ME ANY LATER!" Sakura's voice sailed through the door and woke him up in a flash. She didn't want to be any later or Sasuke was going to be mad. Anyways, the earlier she was, the more time she could see him. Naruto however was groggy and decided to let her knock a few more times before answering, but then saw Kila sleeping. He instantly jumped to his feet and ran to the door and opened it just enough to show his face.  
  
"Hi Sa...Sakura-chan!" He said with a forced smile.  
  
"Naruto! Why are you sleeping in today! Remember? We said we all were going to practice our Kunai throwing today! And why do you look so scared?"  
  
"No...Nothing... I just had a bad dream... I'll be there soon! Bye!" He attempted to close the door as quickly as possible, but at that very moment,  
  
"Naruto-kun, who is at the door...?" Kila said in a cute little sleepy voice and came up behind him, one eye half open and the other was being rubbed. When she saw Sakura, she opened both eyes and looked at her.  
  
Naruto looked at back and forth between Sakura and Kila. They looked at each other in silence, and he was so shocked that he could not say anything. Suddenly, Sakura found herself stepping into his room to get a better look at this stranger. He then had a look of exasperation. What was he going to do? And better yet... what were the both of them going to do? _"Only stuff like this would happen to me."_ He thought to himself with a sigh.

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**End of Chapter 3 of The Illusion**  
  
R & R folks! Hope your enjoying the story! This chapter was a bit long, I know... hehe... please comment so I know to keep going... helpful tips would greatly be appreciated!


	4. Illusion 4

Disclaimer: YEP...still by this 4th Chapter, I haven't received ANY rights or ownage of Naruto, it still belongs to ANBU and ANIMEONE...so boo on that..sigh one of these days..just watch... MWAHAHHA! =) Til that day, have fun reading fanfiction you ppl!

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**Chapter 4 of: The Illusion**

The three stood there for a about 3 minutes in total silence as Sakura looked back and forth between Kila and Naruto. Her eyes were wide, then went back to their original size.

"Hi! I'm Herotuku Kilana, but you can call me Kila!" she said with a cheerful tone, breaking the frictional air. "And I know who you are, you're Haruno Sakura!" she added in the same fashion.

Sakura just opened her eyes again at the mention of her name by this strange girl, opened her mouth as to say something to her, then closed it. _"Who's this weird girl, how does she know me, and what the heck was she doing sleeping with Naruto? OMG..did they sleep together?" _Sakura's expression went into surprise at the thought. _"There's gotta be some kind of explanation for this!" _

Instead of inquiring Kila right away, she turned to Naruto and suddenly seemed to loom over him. He was scared and cringed back as Sakura spoke:

**"NARUTOWHO'STHISGIRLANDWHYISSHESLEEPINGINYOURROOMANDWHYAREYOUSOLATETOTRAINWHATWEREYOUGUYSDOINGIMGOINGTOTELLKAKASHISENSI!?!?"** Naruto was speechless and his mouth was agape, Kila just stared and was too scared to say anything. Regaining her composure, Sakura just cleared her throat and spoke in a slower and quieter tone,

"Well, I'll ask you later after we train, we are late enough as it is." She said as she turned to the door. He reached out as if to stop her and try and explain, but his mouth didn't function and no words came out. As she stepped out, she didn't even turn back around and stopped at the doorway with the last words, "Oh and Naruto, bring your little girlfriend along. I don't want her to spend anymore time in your horrible messy room; you should ought to clean up your room before you have guests over, it's very impolite."

The door shut behind Sakura as she stepped onto the platform outside. _"Why did I even get so worked up? Just because Naruto has a little girlfriend..." _At the word girlfriend, her stomach seemed to become agitated. It was enough to make her put her hand instantly on her stomach, and she felt a little off. She just shook it off and headed back to where Sasuke was waiting. At least with Naruto having to get dressed and all, she'd have a few more moments alone with Sasuke, even if he was a little morbid and silent. She smiled again and walked a little faster.

Inside, Naruto found himself more bewildered than ever in his life. In no more then five minutes, he just witnessed Sakura yelling at him, but this time like no other. He was extremely glad she had gotten out of her way to stop by his place, but the conclusion was appalling. This time when she yelled at him, he felt the brunt of all her words. Suddenly, his heart felt very heavy, about the same feeling when the image had appeared in his head of Sakura leaving hand in hand with Sasuke. He wanted to cry, he wanted to be alone, he wanted to just run away, away from the pain he felt. Suddenly, without warning, Kila had quietly stepped over and put her arms around his shoulders, in a caring manner like a mother would a child who just fell down. His knees gave out, and he found himself sitting on the floor, and yet Kila refused to let him go and held on tight, hugging him tighter. Tears began to creep up to his eyes, but he raised his hands and brushed them off. _"NO!! I can't cry! No...I'm so alone, I've cried enough... I'm so... sorry...Saku..ra.. "_He thought in his head as he hung his head.

For a while the two sat there, in silence. _"Ahh..it's so nice to sit here holding Naruto-k_AHHHH!" She yelped at he stood up so fast and she fell off of him. He turned around and noticed that Kila had this boggled look at him and was sprawled on the floor as she was knocked back. _"She's so...cute. So much cuter then Sakura! "_ She had this expression between shock and gladness, cheerful to see him smiling again. "C'mon lets go training!" He said with a forced kind of happy. He didn't want anyone's pity, he was isolated for most of his life and he got out of his own sadness.

She started to wander around his room again as he changed and got ready to leave. She came across a picture of Team Seven. In the picture, Naruto and Sakura were smiling bright and cheery, Sasuke had his usual grim face, and Kakashi just had his eyes closed and holding his **Come Come Paradise** book. Her finger drew a heart around Naruto's face through the layer of dust that had settled on top of the glass cover. She had a small smirk as Naruto came out of the bathroom.

"Ya ready Kila? Hurry up, let's go! We gotta catch up! C'mon C'mon! We're wasting training time!" He had pushed back the Sakura incident and tried his hardest not to think about it, and it was working. He wasn't really looking forward to facing Sakura again, but he wanted a chance to train with Sasuke and see if he could progress farther then him. There were scarcely any moments when Sasuke would take time out of training in solitude to train with his two teammates without Kakashi there, so Naruto wanted to get there as quick as he could.

Both he and Kila sped towards the woods where the trio had trained the day before. The whole time there, Naruto could only think about how he could be Sasuke, but eventually he felt the dread of what Sakura could possibly say to him. _"Your little girlfriend..." _Her voice filled his head. _"She's not EVEN my girlfriend!!" _he thought to himself. He glanced over and saw that she kept up with him no problem. She smiled at him and they quickened their pace to the woods. _"At least... I don't think so... not yet..." _

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**End of Chapter 4: The Illusion**

A/N: Well everyone, I'm off to vegas for the weekend! So I wont be back for a while, so I thought about sticking this in before I leave... hope you all have fun reading it... I'll try to make the next chapter soon... hehehe... is that a hint of jealousy from Sakura? GF? hMm... til next time folks! R&R please!


	5. Illusion 5

Disclaimer: ((snaps)) yep...still the same story folks, I still do NOT own Naruto at ALL! By NO MEANS! But yea... I do own my IMAGINATION! So blehhh... -- haha.. hope you enjoy!

A/N: SORRY!! For the delay and all, just had to get some stuff straightened out...but at least I'm back now... so yea... hope you enjoy this uhh..additional chapter! =) I'll try to write more often and whatnots! =) R & R cuz I'm starting to branch off to several ideas! =) ((big grin))

**Chapter 5 of : The Illusion**

Kila and Naruto had arrived and watched the scene from a branch up in the trees of Sasuke throwing several shurikens at various targets posted up on the trunks and on set up mannequins; of course each throwing star hit the center of each and every one. Sakura was off on the side and was oogling and daydreaming over Sasuke's mastery of his throwing skills and how he'd one day secretly confess his desire for her as well, and Kakashi (who had actually had shown up on time, or at least before Naruto came) was observing his assigned Genins. Suddenly, out of no where Naruto sensed a kunai heading straight for his head and leaped away quickly; the blade missing his skin by a few inches and slicing through several strands of hair, striking the bark behind him.

"SASUKE YOU BASTARD!!! YOU ALMOST HIT ME YOU STUPID JERK! I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!" Naruto yelled out after dodging the weapon and was on the edge of the branch. Kila just stood in the same spot, unmoved.

"I knew you weren't going to get hit, stupid. Only idiots could of gotten hit." Sasuke replied back in a calm manner with a semi smirk on his face.

"YOU STINKING LIAR! YOU WERE TRYING TO HIT ME ON PURPOSE! I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY!" Naruto yelled back at him, his anger growing. Sasuke seemed to always know how to push the right buttons and tick him off real good.

"You're dumber and slower then you look." Sasuke said, once again with the same tight smirk. "You stood in the way of my target, why would I want to waste my time on a bloke like you? Puh..." Turning his back and walked to get a drink of water and Naruto looked at the target, which of course, had the shuriken right in the dead center.

((Pluck!))

"Why you little.....! AHHH!!!" He was going to throw a unripe fruit from the tree when the branch gave way under him and he landed face first into the ground. "Nthix hes gut tnoo be sm kndah shoke..."

((Soft thud))

Kila at once was right by Naruto's side and helped pick him up. Still kind of dazed by the impact, he looked straight into the silver bluish eyes of his aide. Caught breathless, but not by the fall, he gazed into her eyes and semi started to blush.

"Are you ok Naruto-kun?" Kila asked in a quiet and nurturing voice, sending a cooing sensation through his nerves.

"I..uhh...yea...ok...I'm fine..." He managed to stammer out. At the same point, he could suddenly feel a prickly sensation on the back of his neck as it stood on end and turned his head to just barely catch a glimpse of a furious Sakura. Just as she saw him turn his head, she turned away pretending to shake something out of her hair. "_Did I just see Sakura-chan glaring at me...? No... I'm just seeing things..." _He assured himself and sat up holding his head.

In all of the commotion, Sasuke was staring intensely at the newcomer which somehow he neglected to notice when she had appeared in the beginning. After seeing Naruto sit up, he walked over and looked down, casting a shadow upon him.

"Who are you?" Sasuke said in a short and intimidating way.

"I'm Herotuku Kilana, but you can call me Kila for short!" She said in that same cheerful tone that she had greeted Sakura earlier on. She stood up and stuck her hand out for a handshake, but he simply scoffed at it and turned away, returning to his training again. He didn't care to shake her hand, less cared to know anymore about her. Her attitude reminded him slightly of Sakura's, annoying but of a different level. _"There's something about this girl, but I'll figure it out later. I'm wasting my time right now."_ Sakura watched from several feet, but just hearing Kila's voice seemed to agitate her. She had no idea why she disliked Kila so much; she kind of smiled when Kila had a look of confusion as Sasuke turned away and left her hanging. Naruto then stood up and said,

"So when do we start training?"

"We already started you fool, you're late." Was the cold answer back from the Uchiha Clan Genin.

"I'm seriously going to...." Snarled Naruto and was prepared to attack when Kakashi sensei had strode over silently and said,

"I'd like to know more about you Herotuku Kilana, you all will resume training after we know her story."

Kila retold her story as she had done with Naruto, and he flinched once again at the work Kyuubi. She left out the whole interest in Naruto and continued her story til the present time of arrival to the training grounds. Kakashi seemed to of listened intently, and when she was done, gave what seemed to be a smile and a small nod to her and welcomed her.

"Well nice to meet you Kila. I'm Kakashi, and this is my group, Group 7. That there is Sakura, whom apparently you've met, and this here is Sasuke. Since you are new here and a visitor, you can stay with us and watch." He said with what seems to be a smile behind the cloth covering his face. He then turned to the rest of em, "Well we've wasted enough time, lets get back to training, the Chuunin exams are coming up and we need to get ready. Oh and Naruto," He added with a taunting tone, "It will be your mission to see that Kila (Kakashi puts up the little pinky finger) is comfortable with her stay here in Konoha."

"NANI?! Kakashi sensei! That's not even true! She's not...!" He glimpsed over just to see Kila smiling amused at the whole scenario and did not finish his sentence. _"What the hell is going on? This is weird, really really weird." _He thought to himself and shook his head and pointed out a branch that she could sit on and watch them train. She sat down and the three of them got ready.

"Ok, today we are going to practice your stealth techniques and aim." Kakashi started to say and Naruto groaned. He knew right off the bat that Sasuke would already have the edge because he was naturally good at stuff like this, but he told himself that he'd get a hit or two off that Uchiha clan bastard. Sakura on the other hand, she wasn't too hard to hit, at least he hoped not. "and here are your weapons. These are Kunais and Shurikens with a flat and painted end so that no one will get hurt today. To make things more interesting, I'll buy the winner lunch." And he eyed Naruto who's eyes seem to glaze over at that word. He passed out the weapons and said, "Begin!"

The three took off in opposite directions. Kakashi and Kila were left in the opening; he just reached into his vest and pulled out his book and started to read by leaning against the tree. Several moments passed by and painted weapons flew overhead from one tree into another.

Sakura had laid low and actually found some thick brush where she was sure that neither Sasuke or Naruto could find her. As she was about to move, she saw that she had a clear view of Kila, from behind. Suddenly she daydreamed that she threw the painted Kunai and hit Kila directly in the back and left a nice splotch of paint. Laughing to herself, she propped herself and released the weapon at full force towards Kila, who was sitting not further then 50 feet away.

((KLANG!))

In no more then a split second later, Kila had drawn a Kunai of her own and had in one simple and graceful movement, blocked the thrown object with such skill that she had managed to catch it with the hole while gently holding the blade. She then just moved her arm to the front and turned her head to look directly into the bush where Sakura was hiding. Her face was emotionless, and Sakura was shaking over so bad like she just had an encounter with the devil himself.

**End of Chapter 5 of: The Illusion**

Hope you like it so far... =) I'm trying I'm trying! But please R & R! Tips/Comments would be greatly appreciated! =)


	6. Illusion 6

first and formost,  
A/N: GOMENOSAI!! GOMEN GOMEN GOMEN! i've been so CAUGHT up with School its driving me INSANE!!! and yea..so my time's pretty much all taken up nowadays, and midterms are just around the corner!! (breathes) so...i'm finding time to write naruto just a TAD bit on the slow side, but dont worry, i'm still here and i'm still alive!! -breathe breathe- see! breathing and blood still running, so yea..process might be a tad slow, but i'm working on it already on the next chapter!! so yea... hope you all can bear with me in this stage... and i'll TRY to keep up my writing... anywhoo...enuff blaberring, on with the program!

Disclaimer: i CLAIM to say that i DONT claim any rights to naruto! does that make sense? in other words, its not mine...except KILA! mwahahha! mine mine mine! well..partial credit goes to the OG owner of CHEDDERKNiGHT sn you guys know this story by which is my very best friend! he owns this sn..i just use this to borrow it and write and post my fanfic of naruto! so anyways, enuff yabbering, time to go on!

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**Chapter 6 of The Illusion**

"Ah...heh...heh...heh! Gomenosai! It slipped; I wanted to throw it at stupid Naruto over there!" A blushed Sakura pointed towards a bush that was a little to the side; off across the field. A spot of orange was poking through the spacing of the leaves.

"But Sakura-chan! I'm right here!" Naruto popped up out of one of the clusters up in the canopy of the trees. Kila's expressionless face lit up at the tone of his voice.

-Sakura face faults-

Kakashi, who just looked up, but the book still open, walked over to the pointed out bush and used his foot to make an opening to reveal a giant mushroom. (Yes... odd colored, it was orange with splotches of white... haha! Mario anyone?) He went right back to reading.

Sweat drop from Sakura and Naruto

"Well...haha... uhh... I guess I was wrong..." Sakura said sheepishly with her eyes closed and one hand behind her head. _"Something is definitely NOT right about that girl! I'm going to find out what it is."_

Sasuke eyes were wide as he remained in his hiding place and watched the whole incident. He saw the way she didn't even seem try and attempt to dodge it, rather the calm reaction is something he's only seen jounin's like Kakashi pull off. _"Herotuku Kilana... finally a worthy adversary. The annoying Sakura and idiotic Naruto only slow my process down, but she intrigues me. I want to find out more about this girl." _He stood up and jumped down and landed right in the middle of the clearing.

-Thump-

"Well, I guess this is it for the training today, let's go home." Kakashi said as he said without looking up from the book. Kila's attention had turned around when Sasuke landed.

"AWW! But it was so short!" wailed a unhappy Naruto as he too jumped down.

"We'll do it again later on, besides, I have a meeting to go to soon." Was Kakashi's blunt reply. "Now, who's the winner?"

"HAHA! It's ME! I hit that ARROGANT STUPID SASUKE 3 times! Right there, there, and THERE! HAHA! Free ramen! YAY!" Naruto gleefully boasted and pointed at Sasuke's calf, his left arm, and a on his side.

"Idiot. Turn around."

"Nani?? Why?!" As Naruto turns around, he sees his back had 6 hits, one at where his heart was, and the others were at his spine and major organs. With Sasuke's abilities, he would have been able to of ruptured the organs even from attacking from behind. If they were real, Naruto would of died.

Naruto has tears stream down his cheeks comically as the image of a bowl of ramen flies away with a pair of wings

"Sasuke, you bastard. I hate you!"

However, the two of them were so neck to neck with each other and had the frictional lightning going from each others eye and crashing in between the both of them, they had forgotten about Sakura. They turn to look at her, and realized she's paint free.

"Hmph. As if I wanted to eat food with that sensei of ours. He'd be late as always anyways." With that, Sasuke started to walk back to the village, and just as he walked by Kila, he simply said "I wanna talk later." She looked up at him with her bright eyes, but he didn't have any emotion, just cold and stern. He kept walking until he was out of sight.

"One of these days... just one of these days... I'm going to beat you up Uchiha!" Naruto snarled more at himself and the ground then aloud; his fists balled up tightly. Then he turned his head up with a big smile on his face towards Sakura and gleefully said,

"Good job Sakura-chan! I'm proud of you!" He said while giving her a thumbs up. However, she was staring at the direction where Sasuke has walked off to that she completely missed his congrats. He felt his heart fall a little and she turned around, noticing the end of his sentence.

"Did you say something Naruto?"

"Uh, yea... I just said good job..." was his sullen reply.

"Oh...uh thanks, I guess." Her head began whirring again with thoughts of this new individual, the conspicuous girl. She looked at Kila, who was staring at Naruto dreamily. _"I'm going to get to the bottom of this..."_but before she could finish her thoughts up,

"**GRUMMMMMMBLEEEEEE"**

"Aieeeee!" Sakura gasped out of surprise.

"Gomen..." Naruto's stomach growled so loudly it sounded like a grumbling of a animal. He grabbed it and bent over and started to think of eating ramen for lunch, because he missed eating from sleeping in so late. All that training and anger at Sasuke really took its toll on him. Kakashi just looked up and threw Sakura the free ramen pass. She caught it easily and looked at what she just caught. Then, he threw something else at Naruto, who of course blundered it and it slapped him in the face. He peeled it off his face and was now looking at a free coupon for Ichiraku, his favorite ramen place. He looked up with big puppy, watery eyes at Kakashi sensei, who was no longer there. Naruto turned his head many times, his sensei was no where to be found. He danced and jumped around, he got free food even though he wasn't the winner. And it was for his most loved ramen place ever!

"Well, since you got one too, do you wanna get lunch together?" Sakura asked.

Naruto was midway in air and was so caught off guard that Sakura had asked him to get food he fell on his butt. Kila giggled at Naruto rubbing his bum, but he looked so happy that he was going to cry. _"Things couldn't get ANY better! I got a free ticket for Ichiraku and I'm going to have lunch with Sakura-chan! It's like a date! ...date... date... date...date..." _Then those cruel words of her's played back into his head. _"I'd NEVER date you Naruto! Not ever!" _He was saddened as he remembered those horrible words and those images of her and Sasuke.

"No... "He suddenly felt his hunger go away and also realized Kila had no where to go. It would be mean to just leave her by herself. Sakura guessed it was because of Kila that he didn't want to go, but she didn't want them out of her sight, even if she felt quite awkward. She wanted to keep Kila in her sights the whole time.

"Well, if it's because of Kila, you can take her along! And uhh... I guess you guys can share lunch or something. Yea..." Sakura semi forcefully said. She tried to smile it off, although she was definitely not smiling inside.

"Really??? What do you say Kila?" he said in a eager voice. His hunger suddenly returned when Kila just smiled and nodded with her eyes closed. "ALRIGHT!! LET'S GO!" Naruto's enthusiasm seemed to return. He wasn't too sure, but the way Kila said yes in such a cute way seemed to win his hunger back. As the three of them made their way to Ichiraku, Naruto glanced every so often at Kila and thought to himself...

"_Maybe I am starting to like her... I wanna get to know her more." _Kila caught Naruto looking at her and he just kinda blushed and smiled at her. Though the day started really weird, things were beginning to look up.

**End of Chapter 6 of The Illusion**

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So thats pretty much the chapter..sorry its kinda short, yea... its kinda my style of writing short chapters, but i'm trying to figure out how to kinda lengthen them! ) so hopefully the next one will TRY to be a little longer then these... anywhoo, R and R please!!! i'd like some ideas on wehre this story might go, i have a general one, but i'm not really to sure on it yet... but go ahead and give me ideas! ) thank you!!


	7. Illusion 7

**Disclaimer **Guess what? I DONT OWN NARUTO! so yea, i DISCLAIM to own any right to it.. or anything.. the only thing that is mine, is Kila mwahhaha! but everything else, not mine

A/N Guess what, guess what? I'm not dead either! or passed out drunk..or anything of the like..just took a overly long vacay..with college n everythin..its so very.. NYEH! ;; but aye! i found my inspiration to write..again! hopefully it wont die out for another like 10 million years before... yea hahah )

anywhoo, enough bout me rantering on..here's just another something u can print out or something and read on the toilet seat haha, just dont fall in kay?

anywhoo, heres johnny! i mean.. uhh.. the long put off story!

**Illusions Chapter 7**

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh….Yeosh!" Naruto sighed as he leaned backwards to reveal a stomach bloated like a swollen watermelon. Of course, your stomach would look swollen if you just had 8 bowls of cha-shu ramen. (cha-shubbq pig) Kila endlessly looked at Naruto adoringly (to the point where one could see little pink hearts floating around her head), while Sakura, who on the other side of Kila, was forcing down her urge to throw up at the sight of a gluttonous and fat Naruto. The seams of his clothing look like they were about to rip any minute, and the buttons on his shirt looked like they were stretched to a point of no return. _EW! Naruto is SO nasty, he's such a PIG! I can't believe he stuffed his face to the point he looks like he's a fat cow! He always does this. It's so uncool, unlike Sasuke! _Sakura's head then swam with images of Naruto stuffing himself with food whenever it was around. Then, the image transformed to that of an overly fat Naruto in a cow jumpsuit, with a pink bouncing udder, who was dancing around. Sakura started to turn red in the face as she tried to stifle her laughter. She covered her mouth with her hands and began to giggle at the image in her head.

"What's so funny Sakura-chan?" When Sakura realized she was actually laughing aloud to the point that the cook, waitress, a villager, a Naruto with a noodle still dangling out of the corner of his mouth, and a puzzled Kila, she turned beet red and said,

"Oh nothing, I just thought of uh… uhh…" She couldn't think of a line to cover herself up there, so there was just awkward silence for a good 3 minutes or so as everyone waited to hear the rest of the line. Sakura couldn't stand all the looks so she just stammered "… Ijustthoughtit'dbefunnyifyouandKilabecameboyfriendandgirlfriend!" _Damn, that really didn't come out the way I was hoping it'd come out. Damn! Agh! Now he might thing I'm jealous! I'm SO not jealous! Who said anything about jealous! I never even thought about Naruto like…_

"Oh…uh…thanks…Sakura-chan" Naruto said with a very confused look on his face as he interrupted her internal bantering amongst herself. _I guess she really thinks I like Kila…_He turned to look at Kila, and she had the same cheery look on her face, but her eyes seemed to glow at what Sakura had said.

"Ohhhh… boyfriend and girlfriend huh?" the cook said while winking at Naruto and raising a pinky finger.

"Wait…wha! No… we aren't… we're not, WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP DOING THAT!" Naruto was so exasperated that he just ended up yelling aloud. "Stupid pinky, stupid people… stupid Sasuke and his stupid 'coolness'… stupid…" Naruto just ended up muttering incomprehensible things.

"Well, since you're our number one customer, and she's your, _girlfriend,_ the lunch is free for all of you." The cook finished with a grand smile on his face. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes lit up like bright stars (and even had a few in them) at the mention that the food was free!

"Anosa Anosa, does this mean I can keep the coupon for next time?" Naruto asked with great enthusiasm, completely forgetting that he was irritated a second ago..

"Hahaha, of course…not. We can't give away that much food for free. And besides," the cook pointed to the finished bowls of Naruto's "You ate enough for 8 coupons." Naruto face faulted and tried to beg the cook to keep the coupon. Amongst the ruckus, Sakura began to try and analyze Kila; this is the closest she's been to her and Kila wasn't even paying attention to her. As she was observing, she saw something that looked like a tattoo of some sort. Then with a bit more closer inspection, it apparently wasn't a tattoo, the thing was embedded into Kila's skin, on the back of her shoulder. It looked silver, and it looked like it was part of some kinda sign, or emblem. If she could just move Kila's hair a bit, she might be able to see what it was. From the part that she could already see, it looked like a little curl, but couldn't tell how much more of the symbol there was.

Keeping her eyes focused on the sign, Sakura tried to reach to move the locks of hair that covered the remainder of the symbol. Her fingertips touched the first few strands of Kila's hair when suddenly a bunch of hair covered up the symbol. Scared she might of touched Kila or something, Sakura looked up to find herself staring Kila in the face.

Kila had this look of indescribable rage and hatred for just an instant, and with a blink, suddenly it was gone. Now in the place of that grimace, there was a smile and Kila asked in a very sweet voice, "What were you doing, Sakura?" The question had caught Naruto's attention, who was still in the middle of trying to beg the cook to keep the coupons he got from Kakashi.

"Uhh, why are you leaning so close to Kila, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, while in the process snatched the coupon and stuffed it inside his pocket as fast as he could. The cook glared at him for a second, but gave up trying to fight.

"Well, I saw a… a bug! Yes, yes… I saw a bug on Kila's shoulder and I wanted to pick it off, but when she turned around… she uh, she scared the bug away and it flew off…of.. her." Sakura tried her best to stammer her answer out.

"You sure you're ok Sakura-chan? You've been acting funny lately…" asked Naruto.

"Oh, well, hahaha" Sakura laughed nervously. "Well, I'm ok, it's because training was harder than I thought today, so I think I'll go now and get some rest. I'll see you guys around!" With that, she got up and walked out as fast as she could and walked away from the restaurant as fast as she could, until she was out of their sight. _"What the heck was that on Kila's back? And did I really see what I thought I saw?"_ Sakura shuddered at the image of Kila's face when she turned around. It made goose bumps crawl up her arm when she remembered the horrible feeling she had gotten. It was kind of like watching oneself die a slow and painful death. Now, she knew for sure that Kila's got some hidden agenda, and from that one instant, Sakura knew that her intentions were anything but innocent. Kila's true reasons to why she is really here needed to be revealed, and fast.

Sakura began to hurry home to start thinking of plans for the night. On the way, a thought crept up into her mind of asking Sasuke to help her, but then she realized, this was a mission she commissioned to herself. She wasn't going to get Sasuke involved in her business, and besides, she started to recall the way Sasuke was looking at her during training. If it was possible for him, he looked like he was thoroughly interested in Kila through his nonchalant visage. Suddenly, Sakura's wild imagination came into play again, and images of Sasuke and Kila together started to make her blood boil. Even though it was just an idea that was brewed up within her head, Sakura started to run home faster to take care of that silver eyed girl. Even though Kila hadn't really even talked to Sasuke at all, everything between Sakura and him are in jeopardy. _"That's it! I've gotta get to the bottom of this, no matter what!" _The little image in her head said with great enthusiasm. And to the bottom she ended up getting.

"_How the heck did I get myself into this…" _Sakura asked herself, as she found herself sitting under a pile of garbage in front of the complex in which Naruto lived. She had been sitting there for some time now, currently it was about 11:30 at night. She was peering through the darkness and staring up at Naruto's window, which had its curtain drawn. _"I don't even know how long this is going to take… I should of…" _

"Teeheeheehee! OoOoOoohhh, Naruto…" Kila's voice broke Sakura's thought process. _"What the hell are they doing up there!" _She thought with a sudden burst of anger. _"Naruto better not be doing anything stupid with that girl! I'll kill them! I'll kill them both!"_ She thought bitterly.

Inside, Naruto and Kila were enjoying a game of Jounin cherades. Naruto was trying to be a log, butended up tangling his limbsin the process and ended up falling over, which made her laugh. _"Awww, she's got the most cutest laugh in the world." _He thought to himself andsmiled, even though he was sprawled over the floor. _"I think...for once, I'm really happy, and I mean REALLY happy... and eventhough I still like Sakura-chan, I think i'm beginning to really like Kila now. She...she's everything I wished Sakura-chan would be to me... treating me so nicely, being so friendly, but most of all... " _Was his final thought when Kila said,

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun! I have to go right now, I just remembered I forgot something back at my place, and I need to get it, but I will be back tomorrow, ok?" Kila said.

"Oh, well, ok then... let me open the door for you." He said getting up and opening the door for her to leave. He really didn't want her to leave because he was having so much fun, but she had to go.

Click….Creak…- Naruto's door had finally opened, after approximately 3 hours of her sitting under that pile of trash.

Looking up, she saw Kila emerge from the open doorway, and Naruto walking outside right after. They were talking, but softly enough that she could not make out what they were saying. Then, the talking stopped and Kila started to lean towards Naruto; Sakura eyes widened as she saw Kila get closer to Naruto.

Kila leaned closer.

And closer.

And even closer still, and Sakura's heart was racing so fast.

So very close to Naruto, who stood there unmoving, looking at Kila with big eyes, just like Sakura's... he felt every joint in his body freeze up, he couldn't move or anything...

The seconds passed so very slowly…

Then she was no more than 1 centimeter away from him…so very close he could feel the warmth eminating from her...

And then...

Kila hugged Naruto.

Sakura didn't know what to feel at that moment. She was relieved to some extent, and then mad at herself because she had assumed very, very wrongly and was so worked up about it. _"Wait a minute, why the heck are you so flustered for Sakura? GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! It's only stupid bakahead Naruto! _She silently screamed in her own head. After a few deep breaths, she looked up again just in time to see Kila kiss Naruto on the cheek quickly and turn to walk away from him. Naruto stood dumbfounded at the doorway and watched Kila go, with a big smile plastered on his face. Then, he turned back around and walked back into his room, and shut the door. Now it was time to execute her spying plan, and find out just where Kila was going so late at night.

**End of Chapter 7**

Well, that's the best of it for now.. lemme know what ya'll are thinking.. Please please? arrigato gozaimasu! well, time for me to hit the sack.. college makes yah a sleepyhead... damn man... **I NEED SPRING BREAK DAMMIT!** and i'm not getting it til april 11th.. Stupid PCC bastards... hehe..jk ..kinda..


	8. illusion 8

Disclaimer: Naruto is... NOT MINE:'( ... Kila mine mine mine mine! yay i own somethinggg.. even if she's not real

A/N.. finally... UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE! ok so its been like a REALLY REALLY REALLLY long time.. but college has finally caught up and reared its big ugly head and bit me in the...:runs and hides: oO well this chapter was pretty much written out for a while now.. i just managed toput the finishing touches and whatnots .. lol.. i hate school! ok yea.. so thats just me ranting.. anywhoo..now for the good stuff -or at least i hope its close to decent anyway-

**Illusions Chapter 8**

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When Kila was far away enough, Sakura carefully pulled herself from the garbage heap and began to stealthily follow suit. She remained on the right side where there were objects in which she could easily duck behind and hide herself with. Then, without warning, Kila seemed to suddenly speed up; at first a jogging rate, and then full out running, practically leaving a dust trail behind. Caught off guard, Sakura started to sprint as fast as she could to not lose the girl, all the while trying to stifle her footsteps as best she could. Sakura watched her take a corner, but when she turned the corner, she found herself staring down an empty street.

KLANGGGG! CRASH! The sudden noises made Sakura jump and hold her breath; she turned around quickly with a kunai in her hand ready to attack.

facefault _A stupid alley cat._ Alley cats were always hunting for food in the middle of the night. Relieved, she realized she was still holding her breath, so she exhaled and slipped the weapon back into the pouch.

"So Sakura, why are you following me this late at night…hmmm?" A soft, silky whisper floated into Sakura's ears. At that instant, thousands of goosebumps crawled up Sakura's arms and she felt that her heart had stopped. _"WHAT THE HELL? HOW'D SHE GET THERE SO FAST WITHOUT ME KNOWING?" _Sakura's mind was racing. _"Ok.. if I just turn around slowly, I can slide my hand behind me without her seeing and take a few kunais from my pouch, I'll be ready for anything."_

"Oh…haha, well, I was just, I was just wondering what you were doing out so late so I got curious and…and…huh?" Sakura was turning around as she answered in her best lie she could muster up while trying to get a grasp of a few weapons, and only then realized, the pouch was no longer there. She patted around her waist line down to her knees. Nothing.

"Looking for these Sakura?" Kila asked, holding up the pouch and taking a small jump back. While being behind Sakura, she was able to dislodge the pouch easily without being detected.

"What…" Sakura's eyes were filled with terror, this girl was more skilled than she had ever imagined. She knew right then she had way underestimated Kila.

"Why are you following me Sakura?" Kila asked again, with a voice that seemed a bit too friendly for Sakura's taste, especially in the tense situation they were in right now.

Taking a firm stand, she pointed a finger at Kila. "What is your purpose here?" _"OMG, what am I doing? I'm going to end up getting killed…" _She thought to herself. She was literally shaking in her boots, but she didn't want Kila to see that she was scared at all. With an even more confident tone, she asked "And what do you want with Naruto?"

At the sound of Naruto's name, one of Kila's eyebrows perked up. "Well…" her voice trailed off as if she was trying to put an answer together.

"Well what? What are you hiding?" Sakura's voice became more firm.

"I'm hiding nothing." Was the short response. "The question is Sakura, what is it that YOU are hiding?" Kila asked with a small smile.

"What do you mean what am I hiding?" Sakura retorted very angrily. "The only one here who's got ANYTHING to hide is you! We don't even really know you, and who knows if you're even telling the truth?"

"I'm not hiding anything. I'm only here because I wanna see Naruto-kun" Kila said with the same sweet voice that was quickly becoming sickening to Sakura's ears.

"I know there's another reason! What do you want with him?"

"Well, for starters Sakura, I want him to feel what it feels like to be respected. I want him to feel what its like to have someone there to talk to, who won't make him a shadow of someone else. I want him to know what it feels like when someone cares for him, Sakura." Kila took a pause. She had a stern tone. "I want Naruto-kun to feel everything that you have rarely ever shown him, if you ever did. I want him to feel what happiness really is. I want to treat him the opposite of the way you have. You treat him no better than dirt, and Naruto deserves much better than that, better then you. You don't even really know him, you can't even see deep down he's lonely and that his smiles are facades. How can you be so cruel…"

Those words hung in the air for quite some time as Sakura felt them hit her like tidal wave after tidal wave. The awkwardness was so thick in the air, one could almost actually feel the weight.

"You…don't…know…. Naruto… he…" Trying desperately to say something in her defense, Sakura realized that Kila had a point. She treats Naruto no better than dirt, always shoving in his face how he should always be more like Sasuke and how Sasuke was better than him. _"I'm…I'm so sorry Naruto…" _She thought in her mind. Feeling faint in the legs, Sakura fell down onto her knees and then sat on the floor, beginning to weep. The words of Kila repeated played in her head, over and over and over, and with those words, came flashbacks of all the times she's beat him up, all the times she's left him behind, and especially all those times rubbing Sasuke in his face. Tears started to leak faster from her tear ducts, until her cheeks were glistening with wetness. She couldn't stop crying. _"How…how could I call Naruto such mean things, how could I say he's stupid, when all along, I was the stupid one." _

Kila watched Sakura crying on the floor for a bit, then she just laid the pouch in front of the weeping girl and left. She took one final look back, and advanced towards the forest where Naruto and her first met. She had important matters at hand to take care of.

Still sitting there, Sakura wiped her eyes over and over again, but was useless. Her arms were now completely wet with tears, and was only successful in just spreading the wetness over her face. Looking up, she realized that Kila was no longer standing in front of her anymore. She had no idea how long ago the girl had left, let alone how long she's been sobbing on the ground. Mustering up what strength she had, she gingerly picked up the pouch and started to go back on the way home. Her thoughts flooded by those words still, she had lost sight of the purpose of the night. Grudgingly, Sakura dragged her feet in the dirt all the way to her house.

At home, Naruto had been extremely shocked about the kiss on the cheek. It was his first kiss on the cheek from a girl who actually liked him! His heart was beating faster and faster as he recalled the scene over and over again in his head.

"_It was so dark, but Kila's hair was glowing, a soft silvery glow. Her eyes were so wide, I was able to look into them, and I found… I found myself in her eyes. I found a place I felt… like… it was home. I finally felt like I belonged, I wasn't the kyuubi anymore, I was Naruto. Those eyes, looked so filled with light and wonder, I could have stared in them for eternity, stare at them for all those painful years of being alone, stare at her eyes because they weren't looking through me like the others, but IN me, seeing who I really am…" _Naruto's heart began to beat faster. _"She looked at me, with this look that I could not describe, but it lulled me to her. I wanted to hold her, hold her forever, hold onto the place I felt like home, but I couldn't move because I was so captivated… I just felt the warmth of her hug, a real hug, not the pity ones you get, but a real hug with real purpose to hug me for the sake of wanting to hug me. Though it was only a short hug, it seemed like time had stopped. Then… the soft kiss…" _Naruto blushed so much, he felt that his face burn up with heat. "_I think… just maybe… this could be lo…" _Before he could finish his thoughts, a sound interrupted him.

Scritch, Scritch, Scrith

"Nani…?" Naruto opened the door to see what was making that sound in the middle of the night. There, he saw a slumped Sakura walking right past his door towards her house.

"Sakura…..chan?" Naruto started to wave at her, but dropped his arm when he realized that she had been crying earlier. Worried and angry, he jumped down to her.

"Ano...Sakura-chan, daijoubu desu ka?" (Hey…sakura, are you ok?) He asked her. Without thinking or fearing that she was going to beat him down, he gently placed his arm around her shoulder. Sakura's pace slightly slowed down, but she walked on in silence. The silence began to anger Naruto, as his mind began to imagine all sorts of bad things that a girl could be crying about in the middle of the night. Quickly, his thoughts turned to even more disturbing thoughts, most involving guys hurting her in one way or another. (This story isn't rated R… ) He was becoming extremely flustered when all of a sudden,

"I'm…I'm sorry Naruto.. I don't think I can be your friend right now…" A quiet Sakura said barely above a whisper.

"Wha…Whatt! Wait… what? What did I do Sakura chan?" Naruto's anger was quickly replaced by anxiety as he was extremely confused by what she had just said.

"Sakura.. what did I do? I'm sorry! I didn't mean whatever I did to you earlier… I'm sorry-" And then it hit him… Sakura must of saw Kila's hug… but even still, he didn't know how it could affect their friendship right now, but it must be the only logical reason why she would be saying this. "Sakura-chan…" He swung around in front of her and stopped her and put his hands on her shoulders. He looked her straight in the eyes and said "If… if this is about the hug… its was only a hug… and it meant nothi-"

"It's not that Naruto, its not you, it's not her… It's me. I'm the problem.. I'm sorry Naruto.. I have to go. I'm…sorry." By the end of her sentence, Sakura had begun sobbing all over again and ran past a still very confused Naruto, crying into the night. All he could do was watch her, for he knew it was better he didn't follow her right now. "_Sakura….chan…" _Naruto stared until she was no longer visible. Suddenly, his night wasn't going so great after all.

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THE ENDDD! (of chapter 8 that is!)

just kiddin' course theres more kiddies! just.. gimme like some time... ...ok ok.. so ALOT more time ( but thank you to those who keep me on the alert and stuff ) and those that reviewed :) -all reviews are welcome! good and bad! - in fact, thats the reason i can keep writing:) so much loveeee to you guys! hehe.. and erm.. thanks for the patience too ;P


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